Police Scanners: Are they legal?

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R a Z o R wrote:

http://www.police-scanner.info/scanning/police-scanner-laws.htm

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Does anyone have a police scanner for private use ?

Anyone know how to hook-up to the internet ?

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In Michigan citizens can get police scanners and use them in their home or in their cars, but they must get a permit from the state police. Get a form from the Mich. state police, fill it out and take it to local st.police post and get it signed. Then send it to Lansing State Police Qrts. and they should issue a permit.

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The large cities tend to use expensive digital trunking and some encryption.

Small towns and agencies tend to stay analog and an old cheep scanner works fine.

If your in a big city and the cops are going DVP / encrypted then listen to medical and fire they will tip you off to most violence.

I use my scanners to 1) To 1st respond because I was a paramedic and live in a very rural area to help if I am close to an accident or fire etc... 2) To look for criminals, drunk drivers etc... that LE is actively seeking to intercept , apprehend and or call LE on them.

SUGGESTION: Get a Ham radio license and into 2meter / 440 mgz FM ham aka amateur radio, its MUCH better than cell phone in rural and mountain areas as far as reception and emergency communication ability and in the big city it is better for instant emergency communications with white collar classy individuals who will soon become friends all through as large city who tend to be stable mature and Conservative who are dedicated to public service.

During 911 in NY and earthquakes in CA , Ham radio was still on and working great when cell and land line phone were either jammed or completely broke down.

Go to the American Radio Relay League ( google it ) the lead organizational body for Ham radio users.

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SteveInAshand wrote:

SUGGESTION: Get a Ham radio license and into 2meter / 440 mgz FM ham aka amateur radio, its MUCH better than cell phone in rural and mountain areas as far as reception and emergency communication ability and in the big city it is better for instant emergency communications with white collar classy individuals who will soon become friends all through as large city who tend to be stable mature and Conservative who are dedicated to public service.

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Funny, when did HAM become a public service, we are not public servants. MARS is dying, there isn't a need for HAMs to relay messages from Korea to the US due to cheap cellphones ad 4 cent a minute phone cards.

Okay, so you're recommending the person be a Whacker? Ridiculous.

You do sound like you must be an novice in the amateur operator field, I recommend you read this small post.

http://www.hamhelpdesk.com/whackers/dont-be-a-whacker.html

2 meters really isn't worth the trouble. Anyone wanting to involve themselves in amateur radio should get a nice shortwave rig.

At the least, a vehicle rig with a nice HF antenna like this one.



(yes, it is real)

Learning is one thing, pretending to be important is another. I agree more young people should involve themselves in radio as a hobby. In no way is amateur radio supposed to be a replacement for an emergency net.

There is also a radio frequency set up for people to use with a hand held transceiver with no need of a license. You guessed right, 11-meters(corrected) using "CB Radios."

What's that? CB transceivers don't allow people to talk to others from a far distance? WRONG. Sporatic E propagation allows CB users to talk with others hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. Also, there is the possibility of using the F2 layer of the atmosphere allows further propagation of waves during certain times of the day.

Here is a vid many HAMs have seen on the net. In a way enlightening and sarcastic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBGIdf0VjQ4

I do know some people who actually are HAMs which will stop on the side of the road if there is an accident on the road and nobody is available to handle the issue. Thankfully there are a few out there who actually give a damn to take their time clearing a traffic jam on their own, which they know proper hand signalling as well.

I find whackers offensive and embarassing to those which do help in certain situations.

73 DE K9ROO

Edit: corrected a mistake, 11 meters, not 10 meters

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Gilly wrote:

You are correct.  Digital is not automatically encrypted, but there are some radio systems that are impossible to monitor without having access to the system's architecture (IE a radio programmed for use on that net.)  I can't think of one off the top of my head but there is at least one unmonitorable system out there.  Also, in NC use of a police scanner is perfectly legal anywhere unless you are committing a crime while using one, such as burglarizing a home while listening to a scanner to avoid the police.

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Yes and no.

As far as encryption goes, yes.

As far as accessing a radio system you're not authorized on, very easy (with proper knowledge/equipment).

Local county went to a smartzone system with IMBE vocoder, I had a radio set up their radio plan before the officers were even issued radios, at that point only radio techs and higher ups were using the system.

If an area uses encryption, you could (for the sake of argument) steal a radio, keep it off so it doesn't get killed, change the radio ID/LID, throw the programming back in, and *poof*, they can send the kill signal all they want, but your radio has a new ID so it won't listen.

Very few areas are using OTAR, actually, I know of only 3.

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insane.kangaroo wrote:

SteveInAshand wrote:

 SUGGESTION: Get a Ham radio license and into 2meter / 440 mgz FM ham  aka  amateur radio, its MUCH better than cell phone in rural and mountain areas as far as reception and emergency communication ability and in the big city it is better for instant emergency communications with white collar classy individuals  who will soon become friends  all through as large city who  tend to be stable  mature and Conservative who are dedicated to public service.

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Funny, when did HAM become a public service, we are not public servants.

Okay, so you're recommending the person be a Whacker? Ridiculous.

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Says the man wearing a gun, an ATF hat, and his dual band Yaesu... (or whatever you have)

Learning is one thing, pretending to be important is another. I agree more young people should involve themselves in radio as a hobby. In no way is amateur radio supposed to be a replacement for an emergency net.

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What?! How the hell did you get your license? Go read up a bit, refresh a little. Amateur radio was designed and intended for experimentation and assistance in emergencies. Only SATphones were up after Katrina, except hams. Ditto for 9/11. Amateurs provide a crucial role in emergency communications, even more mundance communications such as those at a red cross shelter needing more blankets.

There is also a radio frequency set up for people to use with a hand held transceiver with no need of a license. You guessed right, 10-meters using "CB Radios."

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SeriouslY?

You guessed WRONG. 10M is assigned to AMATEUR RADIO, citizens band is the so-called '11 meters'.

There is no specific radio frequency for '10-meters' or CB, there's a whole bunch. 40 designated for use by CB in the 27 Mhz range, and 28-29.7 Mhz for 10m.

I do know some people who actually are HAMs which will stop on the side of the road if there is an accident on the road and nobody is available to handle the issue. Thankfully there are a few out there who actually give a damn to take their time clearing a traffic jam on their own, which they know proper hand signalling as well.

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What? So life saving information broadcast when no other signal can get out is 'wrong' but directing traffic around an accident is 'good'? WTF?! What good does proper hand signalling do you if noone else knows WTF it means.

I find whackers offensive and embarassing to those which do help in certain situations.

73 DE K9ROO

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Hello kettle, meet pot. Pot, Kettle.

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TechnoWeenie said:

Says the man wearing a gun, an ATF hat, and his dual band Yaesu... (or whatever you have)

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Seriously? You want to lose a conversation at the very first of an argument by attempted insults? Real adults there...

TechnoWeenie said:

What?! How the hell did you get your license? Go read up a bit, refresh a little. Amateur radio was designed and intended for experimentation and assistance in emergencies. Only SATphones were up after Katrina, except hams. Ditto for 9/11. Amateurs provide a crucial role in emergency communications, even more mundance communications such as those at a red cross shelter needing more blankets.

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Okay, right. Amateur radio was originally designed for experimentation. Reading up done.

TechnoWeenie said:

SeriouslY?

You guessed WRONG. 10M is assigned to AMATEUR RADIO, citizens band is the so-called '11 meters'.

There is no specific radio frequency for '10-meters' or CB, there's a whole bunch. 40 designated for use by CB in the 27 Mhz range, and 28-29.7 Mhz for 10m.

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You'll have to excuse me for missing by a whole band length, I consider CB users no better than the people on 14.275MHz. Everyone says something incorrect now and then, even the word "clip."


TechnoWeenie wrote:

What? So life saving information broadcast when no other signal can get out is 'wrong' but directing traffic around an accident is 'good'? WTF?! What good does proper hand signalling do you if noone else knows WTF it means.

Hello kettle, meet pot. Pot, Kettle.

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Common amateur operators are no longer needed for emergency. People who are in to the forestry areas of work, the police, FD, and others do have employees which are licensed HAMs or have their own licensed frequencies for emergencies.

I suppose "Emergency communication" now would expected to be people which are HAMs being able to communicate with their families. If there are unprepared cities, that is their fault for not having the tech to communicate and being independent. Like I said earlier, CB can travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles if used right. You also see people illegally using 10 meter amps on their CB units, and I'm sure a tech during an emergency would know you can do such a thing to instantly boot the range.

The rest of hams? Who needs OFs sitting in their shack waiting to play hero?

There are more accidents in traffic than there are city-wide emergencies or disasters. HAMs wanting to play hero are like wannabe cops who can't get past the exams only to become pouting security guards or mall ninjas.

Learning and/or being instructed how to direct traffic during an accident, especially in a large city, helps clear the congestion and allow officers which have much more training to do their job. How many times have you lived in a place where you're waiting on an accident or some nutter stops in the MIDDLE of the road because he is out of gas(sigh)?

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Police scanners have always been a hobby of mine, I have a base unit in my home, and a mobile unit in my vehicle.

I have radios that get passed all encrypting and I can hear anything in my area, I do not know about other areas though.

In Virginia it is kind of like a vest.......

It is not illegal to wear or own, unless you are using it WHILE you are committing a crime.

So if I am running from the police and listen to them to see what they are about to do to me, or set up a roadblock or something, then I could get in trouble for it.

But otherwise, its not problem.

(This is how it is in Virginia)

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Knight, you have a digital radio, it is NOT decrypting anything. There is no encryption, just a digital VOCODER.

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LOL Not sure what city you are in but the STLPD is always hoppin. I host many St Louis Missouri scanners on my multicast feed and have many of the area officers on my friends list. They all seem to like it, it's an easy way to keep up on whats going on. Also there is no encriped data other then maybe SWAT opps in the STL area and they just switched to P25 Digital. Anything can be heard if you want to pay the price for the equipment. 500.00 is steep for a new digital scanner but to me and my fans it's worth it.

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Sorry if that was posted in the wrong spot, it was a response to grumpycoconut's post

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There are more accidents in traffic than there are city-wide emergencies or disasters. HAMs wanting to play hero are like wannabe cops who can't get past the exams only to become pouting security guards or mall ninjas.

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ATF hat

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Aran wrote:

There are more accidents in traffic than there are city-wide emergencies or disasters. HAMs wanting to play hero are like wannabe cops who can't get past the exams only to become pouting security guards or mall ninjas.

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ATF hat

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Costume prop, even if it is a real ATF hat.

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Bullshit.

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Believe what you want to, after all you're suffering from ICD-10 F21

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So what if I am?